US oil inventories in surprise slump last week: API

Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly fell, the API reported Tuesday, signalling an ongoing recovery in crude demand.  

Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $78.05 a barrel following the report after settling down 0.5% at $77.56 a barrel.

U.S. crude inventories  fell by about 5.5 million barrels for the week ended Mar. 8, compared with a build of 423,000 barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 400,000 barrels. 

The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by about 3.8M barrels, and distillate stockpiles fell by 1.2M barrels. The ongoing fall in gasoline supplies come just as prices at the pump have jumped to multi-month highs amid a still-nascent recovery in refinery activity, trade routes disruptions and the seasonal post-winter rise in demand.    

The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies increased by about 875,000 barrels last week.